This invention is related to baked sweet goods and to process for preparing dough for baked nonperishable sweet goods.
In order to combat the world feeding problem, and particularly the problem of protein deficient diets, considerable attention has been given to the fortifying of foods with high protein ingredients.
In baked nonperishable sweet goods, the incorporation of high protein ingredients generally increases the energy required to bake the products. Many high protein ingredients suitable for incorporation in baked goods imbibe and tightly hold large amounts of water. Extra water must therefore be added to doughs containing such ingredients to produce a dough consistency which can be handled and formed into product pieces by conventional bakery machinery. Extra energy is required to bake out the excess water and to drive the imbibed water out of the high protein ingredients. Reduction of the water content of the finished product is required to prevent spoilage.
Nonperishable sweet goods are normally prepared by mixing together the sugar, shortening and water of the formulation to form a cream mass and then mixing in the flour and any other protein ingredients together with minor ingredients such as leavening, flavors, etc. When this conventional mixing method is used, the addition of high protein ingredients not only requires the use of increased water as discussed above but also results in a finished product which has an undesirable dense structure which tends to be hard.
The process of the present invention overcomes the poor eating quality and high water requirement associated with high protein formulations in the past. In addition, when this process is employed with conventional formulations, less water is required in the formulation, and the resulting product has a novel open texture and a sensation of increased sweetness.